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- Title
- Charge of the colored troops - San Juan
- Description
- Commemorative print of the Spanish-American War depicting members of the African American regiments of soldiers during the Battle of Kettle Hill, generally known as the Battle of San Juan Hill, on July 1, 1898. Shows, in the left and foreground, African American soldiers, three with head wounds, lying on the ground, on their knees, back, and side. They are portrayed with blood flowing from their wounds, and two likely portrayed to have been killed. Behind and near the men, their fellow soldiers charge, carry an American flag, aim and shoot, and/or engage in hand-to-hand combat with Spanish soldiers, many of whom lay or fall injured and/or dead. In the background, a military fort and charging Spanish soldiers under gun fire and explosions are visible. View also shows firearms, a drum, wagon wheel, and a crate laying in the grass of the battleground. The Spanish American War was the conflict between Spain and the United State originating with the Cuban War of Independence. Cuba gained independence and the United States acquired the territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippine Islands from Spain. The regular army's four Black troops (9th and10th Cavalry and 24th and 25th Infantry) and thousands of Black men volunteers served during the war. African American troop's service during the war caused controversy within the African American community which still did not have equal civil rights as citizens of the United States. Nearly thirty Black soldiers from the 9th and 10th Cavalry and the 24th and 25th Infantry were killed during the battle., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Copyright 1907 by James Lee Co. Chicago., Printed in lower right: 3838.
- Date
- 1907
- Location
- *GC - Spanish American War [P.2023.32.3]
- Title
- [Folk art portraits of two African American women and two African American men]
- Description
- Folk art bust-length portraits of two African American men and two African American women, portrayed in racist caricature, shown in a row, alternating woman, then man. In the left, the woman, wearing her hair in two braids tied with blue bows on either side of her head that stick out, with red lips, and attired in an off-the-shoulder blue dress with ruffles, faces forward with her eyes looking left. Beside her the man, with red lips and attired in a white collared shirt, a pink tie, and a black jacket, slightly faces left and his eyes look at the woman. The woman, wearing her hair tied in multiple braids, with pink lips, and attired in a pink, ruffled dress, looks to the left. In the right, the man, with pink lips and attired in a blue bowtie, a white shirt with blue stripes, and a black jacket, faces left and looks at the woman., Title supplied by cataloger., Gift of Mrs. S. Marguerite Brenner, 1984., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Date
- [1909]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Drawings & Watercolors - Unidentified - Faces [P.9057.28]
- Title
- Chil dren of all nations. A series of 50
- Description
- Series of pop out cigarette cards depicting waist-length portraits of children (boys and girls) of different nationalities attired in their "native" costume. Includes Arabia (boy); Australia (boy); Belgian Congo (boy); Belgium (girl); Bulgaria (boy); Burma (girl); Denmark (girl); Egypt (girl); England (boy); Greece (girl); Holland (girl); Hungary (boy); Italy (girl); Ireland (girl); Mexico (boy); Natal (girl); New Zealand (girl); Norway (girl); Palestine (girl); Patagonia (girl); Poland (girl); Portugal (boy); Rumania (girl); Russia (girl); Scotland (boy); Siam (boy); Spain (girl); Sweden (girl); Tahiti (girl); Tibet (girl); Tunis (girl); Turkey (girl); United States (girl); and Wales (girl). The Ogden Branch was originally founded by Thomas Ogden as the Ogdens Tobacco Company in 1860. In 1901, American Tobacco Company bought Ogden's Tobacco Company and it in turn was bought by Imperial Tobacco Co. in 1902. Ogden started to include cigarette cards in its packaging in 1894., Date inferred from pop out format. Series issued in 1924 as pop outs., Printed above images: Ogden's Cigarettes., Title from series title on items., Versos contain explicative statements describing the depicted children's appearance, social life, and customs., Gift of George Allen., RVCDC, Description reviewed 2022., Access points revised 2022.
- Date
- [ca. 1924]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department ephemera - Cards [P.2016.56.1-34]
- Title
- [Abraham Lincoln miscellany]
- Description
- Collection of miscellaneous Lincoln prints and ephemera, including a circa 1880 right-profile, photo mechanical portrait print of the president; 1909 souvenirs from the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLUS) and the Philadelphia Electric Company in honor of the 100th Anniversary of the birth of Lincoln; and a series of ca. 1890 illustrations of medals commemorating and memorializing him. Imagery on souvenirs includes a portrait of Lincoln bordered by an American and MOLUS flag and the reproduced Jean Leon Gerome Ferris painting "Lincoln and the Contrabands" depicting Lincoln greeting an African American woman freedom seeker with her two children. Scene also shows African American men and women freedom seekers near a Union soldier, including a woman sitting with her head in her hands and an older man who takes his hat off., Title supplied by cataloger., Artists, printers, and publishers include Jean Leon Gerome Ferris and Wolf & Co., 5792.F.94c contains copyright statement: painting only copyrighted, Wolf & Co, Philada, 1908., During the Civil War, the U.S. government declared African American freedom seekers as "contraband of war.", RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points 2021., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of materials related to Abraham Lincoln. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886.
- Date
- 1880
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department GC - Lincoln [5792.F.88d; 5792.F.92a-d&93a&c; 5792.F.93d; and 5792.F.94c]
- Title
- Minstrel show. Wentworth Town Hall. March 26th - 8:15. Adults .25. Children .15. Orchestra - dancing
- Description
- Mixed media poster containing a clipped, bust-length, racist caricature depicting "N.D. Johnson" above manuscript text promoting a minstrel show, probably in Wentworth, N.H. Clipped image shows a man in black face, with an exaggerated broad smile, and looking to the left with his eyes. He wears a top hat, red bow, a white shirt with wide lapels and a "shiny" star-shaped pin at the chest, and a tuxedo jacket., Blackface minstrelsy is a popular entertainment form, originating in the United States in the mid-19th century and remaining in American life through the 20th century. The form is based around stereotypical and racist portrayals of African Americans, including mocking dialect, parodic lyrics, and the application of Black face paint; all designed to portray African Americans as othered subjects of humor and disrespect. Blackface was a dominant form for theatrical and musical performances for decades, both on stage and in private homes., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Contains pasted, clipped photomechanical print captioned: N.D. Johnson., C. Belyea is possibly Charles Moses Belyea (1904-1980) of Grafton, New Hampshire., RVCDC, Description of Blackface minstrelsy from Dorothy Berry, Descriptive Equity and Clarity around Blackface Minstrelsy in H(arvard) T(heater) C(ollection) Collections, 2021.
- Creator
- Belyea, C.
- Date
- [ca. 1925]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Advertisements - Minstrel [P.2022.57.2]
- Title
- A luxury fleet featuring newest pullman refinements at low travel cost! Pennsylvania Railroad Broadway Limited (All-Room Train). The General New York-Philadelphia-Chicago. "Spirit of St. Louis" New York-Philadelphia-St. Louis. Liberty Limited Washington-Baltimore-Chicago. The Pittsburgher (All-Room Train) New York-Pittsburgh. The Golden Triangle Pittsburgh-Chicago. Many types of Pullman private accommodations, modern section sleepers on all but Broadway Limited and The Pittsburgher-all room trains
- Description
- Poster showing an interior view of a luxury pullman car to advertise the Pennsylvania Railroad. Shows several white men and woman passengers relaxing in the car. In the left, a Black man server, serves drinks to two women and a man seated at a booth. Across from them, in the right, an older man sits in an arm chair, and smokes a cigar, and holds a paper in his lap. An older woman sits on the arm of his chair. Behind them, two women converse, one standing. In the far background, two men stand at a bar. Image also shows a train window. The server wears a white smock shirt and black pants. The men passengers wear suits. The women passengers wear a dress or suit jacket and skirt and/or hats., Title from item., Date inferred from content., RVCDC
- Date
- [ca. 1945]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department miscellaneous posters [P.2284.103]
- Title
- Joyous birthday
- Description
- Racist, metamorphic birthday card depicting a caricatured portrayal of a Black man taxi driver and a Black man passenger, riding in a taxi. Scene, with the card closed, shows the exterior of a yellow taxi with blue and checkered trims. The passenger and driver, depicted with exaggerated and minstrelized features, including wide eyes and a circular mouth, look out their respective rear and front windows, and toward the viewer. The passenger wears a bowler hat and the driver is in a uniform, including a cap. A suitcase is strapped to the top and a a spare tire is attached to the rear of the vehicle. Scene, with card opened, shows the rear door of the car open and the passenger, attired in a pink plaid suit, seated on a blue car seat, and holding a pot with three flowers on his lap. The trim of the taxi is pink., Title from item., Date deduced from the visual content., Printed in the vernacular on inside front cover: When yo' Birf'day rolls around. May it find yo' Up to Snuff,' And may it bring de best ob joys. Now ain' dat Fare enuf?, Printed on verso: Made in U.S.A., Manuscript note on verso: Hoping you have many more Happy and Joyous Birthdays to come. Ruth., RVCDC, Gift of James Hill.
- Date
- [ca. 1935]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department ephemera - Cards - Birthday [P.2021.26.2]
- Title
- Véritable extrait de viande Liebig La case de l'oncle
- Description
- Series of six captioned (in French) trade cards containing scenes from Harriet Beecher Stowe’s "Uncle Tom’s Cabin" to promote Liebig Extract of Meat. Cards depict scenes from chapters 4, 7, 12, 14, 17, and 41. Translated captions include: Aunt Chloe preparing corn cakes; Crossing the Ohio on floating ice, Elisa[sic] escapes from Haley; The fight against slave traders; The slave market; On the verge of drowning, Eva is saved by Tom; and the death of Tom. Scenes show enslaved African American woman “Aunt Chloe” at her brick stove, surrounded by three enslaved African American boys as the white adolescent son of her owner, George Shelby, teaches enslaved African American man and her husband "Uncle Tom" to write; enslaved African American woman Eliza Harris escaping white slave trader Mr. Haley with her son Harry in her arms as she runs across patches of ice on the Ohio River; Eliza Harris’s multi-racial husband George Harris shooting white mercenary Tom Loker in a chasm after departing his and his family’s shelter within a Quaker settlement and for Canada; the market of enslaved people attended by Haley following Eliza’s escape where a young enslaved African American boy stands for sale near a white man mercenary and an enslaved African American woman who reaches out for him; Tom swimming toward the flailing, young white girl Eva St. Clare, i.e. Little Eva, in the water near a dock and a steamboat lined with spectators watching the event; and an adult George Shelby visiting with a dying Tom who rests against a bundle amongst crates and straw within a shed after being beaten at the request of his white enslaver Simon Legree., Most of the African American figures are not caricatured in features or attire. Eliza and George Harris figures are depicted with fair complexions. Also depicts Tom as unbeaten in his "deathbed" scene. Von Liebig, a German-born chemist, who developed a manufacturing process for meat extract in 1840, established the Liebig Extract of Meat Company in 1865. The extract was marketed as an alternative to meat., Series title from items., Cards numbered No. 1 - No. 6., Printed lower right corners: Voir L'Explication au verso., Advertising text and explanation of the depicted scenes and their context printed in French on versos. Includes statement about the cards being distributed gratuitously with the purchase of Liebig extract., Majority of the cards contain a vignette depicting a jar of Liebig extract in the lower right corner. No. 1 contains the vignette in the upper left corner. No. 2 contains the vignette in the lower left corner, Date inferred from circa date of other trade card series issued by Liebig Company., Housed with the Emily Phillips Advertising Card Collection., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
- Date
- [ca. 1904]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade cards - Liebig [P.2018.49.4a-f]
- Title
- Marriage certificate. This certifies that [blank] of [blank] and [blank] of [blank] united in holy matrimony according to the ordinance of God and the laws of [blank] at [blank] on the [blank] day of [blank] A.D. [blank]. Witnesses [blank] [blank]
- Description
- Marriage certificate containing a scene with an African American bride, groom, and reverend, pictorial details, and an ornamented border. Scene depicts the bride, in the left, in right profile, standing, and attired in a long-sleeved white wedding dress and bridal cap with floor length veil draped down her back. She holds a large bouquet from which ribbons stream and she bows her head slightly forward. In the right, the groom, in left profile, stands, attired in a dark suit with morning jacket and a boutonniere adorning the lapel. His head is slightly bowed. Between them, facing the viewer, stands an older reverend, attired in a clerical waistcoat and pants. He is balding with tufts of grey hair by his ears. He holds a Bible at his midriff. Ferns adorn the background. Pictorial details, surround the scene and text of the certificate, and include two Black putti; a vignette depicting the clasped hands of a Black bride and groom; and tropical greenery. The ornamented border is composed of ribbons and a chain link., Title from item., Name of publisher inferred and date from copyright statement: copyrighted 1910 P.P. and F. Co. Chi., Description of print (No. 1900) included in 1911 trade catalog for the Consolidated Portrait and Frame Co., p. 135a. Description reads: Good Luck Marriage Certificate. This certificate was printed and designed especially for the negro race. There is no other certificate so far as we know, exclusively for them., RVCDC, Purchased with partial funds from the Davida Tenenbaum Deutsch Women's History Fund.
- Date
- 1910
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Certificates - Marriage [P.2023.7]